Inside Studio 54 – Mark Fleischman

Full disclosure: I felt a wee bit dirty after reading this book by Mark Fleischman. Mr. Fleischman was a successful business owner who came late to the Studio 54 game. He snapped up partial ownership after the original owners were sent to prison for tax crimes. Fleischman embraced the club with his whole being. He had been somewhat of a party guy before managing the world-famous club; he subsequently went on a four year bender during the club’s final years. Let me say that again: A FOUR YEAR BENDER. He describes all of the drugs, all of the booze, and all of the crazy sex. The celebrity name dropping is plentiful and the parties over the top and sometimes brilliant. In the end, the AIDS epidemic and rampant drug abuse bring it all to a screeching halt.

Fleischman is a bit self important, but he seems to be blatantly honest about his own spiral into the depths of chemical dependence. He is a very specific personality. Speaking of one of his favorite employees, he explains her blue-blood background, then states: “Shelley’s blood ran blue-but on the dance floor, she was all black.” Yikes. Cringe-worthy stuff, readers.

The book left me feeling like I really knew Mark Fleischman; sadly it left me wanting to know more about the extravagant parties, and less about the author himself.